Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicano, and Latinx History in the Archives

Bidal Agüero and wife, Olga, were founders of El Editor, the longest running Chicano-owned newspaper in Texas. The interview begins with a discussion of the Agüeros' support and promotion of Mexican American holiday celebrations in dance and music in the West Texas area. Mr. Agüero discusses his degree in music and talks about writing scores, playing instruments, and writing plays to perform at festival functions. He talks about how the admissions policy of Texas Tech University reflects racial discrimination attitudes of the dominant White culture in the West Texas area. He also talks about race discrimination attitudes in the juvenile criminal justice system in Texas, where he says that Mexican American youth offenders are deliberately held in the detention centers for longer periods compared to their White counterparts. Mr. Agüero discusses race issues associated with city politics and administration of government in Lubbock, Texas such as the gerrymandering of voting districts so that minorities are under-represented in local government. Mr. Agüero addresses the issue of whether single member districting really is in the best interests of minority populations as it was intended to be, and he talks about different types of apportionment schemes such as the creation of cumulative voting districts. He also talks about his family history and genealogy. The Agüeros conclude the interview with a detailed description of the growth of their newspaper business and how it is managed.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: November 3, 1997
Place of Interview: Lubbock, Texas

Amancio J. Chapa, Jr., was born in La Joya, Texas in 1946 and raised in Corpus Christi. He graduated valedictorian from his high school in 1965 and earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from the University of Texas in 1970. He worked with Interstate Research Associates until the organization moved to San Antonio, preferring to remain politically active in his home community of La Joya. He was elected to the La Joya ISD board of trustees in 1971 and also served on the board of directors for Colegio Jacinto Treviño. He was elected mayor of La Joya in the late 1970s and served a two-year term, choosing instead to return to the school board in 1982. He has served on the Housing Assistance Council board of directors since the mid 1970s and also as its president, and was executive director of both Amigos Del Valle, Inc. for 17 years, and Colonias Del Valle. He was honored in 2001 for 22 years of service on the La Joya Independent School District board of trustees, and served as the district's coordinator for the Center for History and Culture and director of the Fine Arts Department. He was a member of the executive committee of the National Council of La Raza, chairman of the Texas Association of Community Development Corporations, and vice president of the Mexican American Democrats of Texas (MAD), and has been an active member of numerous other community-related boards.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: June 5, 1998
Place of Interview: Corpus Christi, Texas

Nephtalí De León was born in Laredo in 1945 and spent his early years in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. His family settled in Lubbock in the late 1950s and he graduated from Lubbock High School in 1961. He is a writer, artist, and poet who has worked frequently as an artist in residence and began his own publishing company. As a political activist, self-identifying as 'Chicano,' he published his own Spanish-language newspaper, ran for Lubbock city council circa 1967, and has been involved with the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), the Brown Berets and the Raza Unida Party.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: November 20, 1999
Place of Interview: Lubbock, Texas

Rogelio Fávila, also known as Rocky Fávila, was born in 1954 in Plainview, Texas where he was raised. He was one of few Mexican American students who remained on the football team in high school and developed his taste for politics on the student council. At the time of the interview, Rocky Fávila was serving on the board of trustees for the Plainview Independent School District and he was a member of the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the National Hispanic Institute (NHI), and the National Hispanic School Board Association. His wife Irene Fávila was serving on the Plainview City Council at that time. Rogelio Fávila discusses his family life and gives his perspective of the Mexican American community in Plainview, Texas. He talks about his family background and the discrimination he experienced growing up in Plainview. He refers to several racial incidents in Plainview, including one involving the Brown Berets, and his part in the ensuing investigations. He explains his work on the board of trustees for the Plainview Independent School District and his campaign strategies to get elected. He recognizes the importance of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in furthering Mexican American causes in Plainview and notes the role of his aunt, Lucía Santana, in the American G.I. Forum in Abilene. He comments on a number of prominent Mexican Americans during the interview, including Lubbock politician Victor Hernández, Hale County Commissioner Mario Martínez, fellow school board member Lionel García, and Eliseo Solís.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: March 1, 1998
Place of Interview: Plainview, Texas

Born in San Antonio, Texas. In the early 1980s, Manuel Valdez became the first Mexican American elected Justice of the Peace in Tarrant County, Texas. He organized the first Mexican American youth programs in Fort Worth in the early 1960s, and he is an alumnus of the University of Texas at Arlington. Valdez tells about his educational experiences as a youth in the Fort Worth, Texas, public schools and his education at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), where he earned his undergraduate degree in criminal justice. He gives reasons he decided to go into the military and he talks about his experiences in the Vietnam conflict. Valdez describes his student political activity as a member and president of the Association of Mexican American Students (AMAS) organization while attending UTA. He elaborates upon his experiences in organizing barrio youth group activities in Fort Worth as Director of Fort Worth's recreation centers. Valdez describes the financial and political difficulties in keeping the barrio youth centers open, and he credits AMAS volunteers with helping to staff and run the tutoring programs. He also credits the Community Action Agency with assuring the funding for the barrio youth programs, and the barrio students for their tireless efforts in lobbying the Fort Worth City Council to allow the centers to remain operational. Valdez concludes the interview by relating the circumstances surrounding his decision to seek elective office as a justice of the peace, and he gives details on how his political campaigns were financed and managed.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: February 13, 1998
Place of Interview: Tarrant County, Texas

Irma Mireles was born in 1947 in Martindale, Texas and graduated from Breckenridge High School in San Antonio, Texas. In the interest of social justice, she has worked with the San Antonio Neighborhood Youth Organization (SANYO), the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), and the Committee for Barrio Betterment. She served as Chair of the Bexar County Raza Unida Party and as secretary for the national convention of the Raza Unida Party held in El Paso, Texas. In 1972, she worked in Mexico City under the Texas Institute for Educational Development. Irma Mireles served as president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 633 in San Antonio and served in office at both district and state levels. She won election to the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) in 1976. A single mother who never married, she moved to Alaska in 1990, and was employed by the city and borough of Juneau. She was appointed to the state advisory committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, joined the parish council of her church, and was elected to the national board of NETWORK, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby. At the time of the interview, she had returned to Texas and was living in San Antonio.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: June 6, 1998
Place of Interview: Texas

Judge Horacio Ramírez begins with his personal and family background and covers his education in Mexico. He briefly describes the attitudes of the Texas Rangers toward Mexican Americans during Prohibition, particularly Captain William McMurray, and segues into a discussion on land grants. He differentiates between Jim Hogg and Duval counties and touches on the Franciscan Fathers at Scottus College. He tells about Mexican Americans involved in local banking institutions and gives details about his missions in the U. S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He focuses on his election campaigns and funding efforts and speaks at length about the 1956 murder investigation into the death of his uncle, Francisco Barrera Guerra, Jr., and the ensuing trial against Rafael Garza. He shares information on his Duval County Judge election win over incumbent O. P. (Oscar) Carillo and expounds on the local economy and his efforts at handling public services for the unincorporated county areas, and notes the county's sources of income. He talks about a number of area ranches and mentions a number of prominent Mexican American politicians such as Sylvia García, Ciro Rodríguez, and Rudy Gutiérrez.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: March 18, 2002
Place of Interview: Heberville (no such town in Almanac; assume it is Hebbronville), Texas

Steve Salazar served three terms on the Dallas City Council. He also served as the first Mexican American trustee ever to be elected to the Dallas County Community College District. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Arlington, and his law degree from the University of Houston. Mr. Salazar began his legal career as a law clerk with Dallas attorneys Roberto Alonso and Domingo García.

Original recording available.
Terms of use: Open
Interviewers: Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez
Date of Interview: November 26, 1997
Place of Interview: Dallas, Texas